As I type this we have 2 days left in March and a crazy winter it has been. Here
in northern Arizona we normally get 20 to 25 feet of snow every winter. This
year we have about 3 feet so far, a mere dusting. Other areas that normally
don’t know what snow is are getting what they consider blizzards. Even down in
the deep south. The northern states continue to get slammed with snow storm
after snow storm. A really crazy year. Much colder than normal. It’s that damn
global warming.

Not a whole lot happening in the gun world. Ruger’s new plant in the southeast
is up and running. Apparently the new American rifles will be coming out of that
plant along with a lot of much needed parts. Speaking of parts, they are still
non existent for the most part. I have several thousand dollars in parts ordered
from TC that have been on order for almost a year but nothing yet.

The ammo situation is still stagnant for the most part. There is plenty of 223
and 308 around but most other calibers are scarce at best. There are several new
ammo companies that are just now releasing their new 223 and 308 ammo. When they
say the demand for it, they ordered equipment and began to tool up to build it.
Now they are finally beginning to produce it and there is no demand for it. One
such company is Silverado Ammunition. The ammunition looks great, the packaging
is great, but there is simply not a lot of demand for it with the glut of 223
ammo out there.

The situation with rimfire ammo is still bleak. I got one of the mail order
catalogs this week from one of the top mail order companies. They were very
proud that they have 22 LR ammo. It is in 250 round milk carton type containers
and priced at only $38, plus shipping. Now 250 rounds is 5 boxes of 50. And $38
works out to $7.60 a box. Add in the shipping and mishandling and you come out
to better than $8 for a box of 50 rounds??? That is something to brag about??
And this ammo is a company that I have never heard of, a company that makes ammo
and milks goats for a living. Things are really getting crazy. But I guess that
is better than the $150 to $160 a brick of 22 LR we find on gunbroker. I would
rather just tell the people asking that we don’t have any than rape them for
that kind of money. Like the old saying, “what goes around, comes around”. It
will all come back to bite you in the ass eventually. Every Friday and Saturday
we have a constant run of folks coming into our gun shop from California, Utah,
Nevada and New Mexico looking for any 22 rimfire ammo. And it is like this all
over the country. The 22 Magnum ammo seems to what is completely out of stock
everywhere. We haven’t seen any of that in months.

On the positive side (there really is one), some of the guns promised are
actually being seen in small numbers here and there. Unfortunately some of the
new firearms are getting something less than a rousing welcome. Those being the
several new companies that are bringing out their own AR-15s. Now I know I am
supposed to call them Modern Sporting Rifle or MSR but that sounds so childish.
They are AR-15s, why give in to the liberals who hate the term and don’t want to
hear it. Screw them. It is a damn AR-15, so call it that. If it offends the
liberals, that is just tough. This giving in to the whiners and cry babies
really bothers me. Just like all the companies that are bringing out no lead
bullets. There has never been a condor to die from lead poisoning yet the bullet
and ammo companies are rolling over and crying “don’t hit me again” and kissing
the liberals butts. There is my pet peeve for the day. Now where was I? Oh yes,
lots of new AR-15 companies out there that are running about a year late. One
year ago anything they brought out in the AR line up would have been gobbled up
immediately. These days ARs are a glut on the market with over 30 companies
making them. Unfortunately a lot of these companies probably won’t be here this
time next year.

Speaking of AR-15s. Those of you that buy stripped lowers to build your own, my
recommendation is to buy one that has a serial number on it. Apparently the ATF
is clamping down on guys that buy the lowers, build guns and sell them without a
serial number. You can build it without a serial number but you can’t sell it.
yet a lot of them are getting out on the market with no serial numbers on them.
Pay a few bucks more and get one of the lowers that has a serial number on it.

The U.S. Marines are now being issued the new Colt M45A1 1911s. These are
replacing the M45 Expeditionary Unit pistol and the M9A1 service pistol as the
issue sidearm for many of the Marine special operations units. This is the first
Colt pistol delivered to the U.S. Military since World War 2. To go along with
it, Winchester is producing a new 45 ACP ammo especially for these pistols
called the Win 1911.

Ruger’s new SR-762 has been shipped in small numbers. We got one this past week.
It feels to me much like the old original FN-FAL rather than an upsized AR-15.
The almost $2000 price tag may slow down sales a bit but I think the gun will be
a good one for Ruger.

Several companies have thumbed their noses at California and refused to sell
their handguns in that state. This is due to California’s micro stamping that is
now the law of the land in commie country. This law requires all semi auto
pistols not already on California’s approved handgun roster to include micro
stamping in all future guns. To comply with this insane law, the firearms
companies must micro laser-engrave a gun’s make, model and serial number on 2
parts of the gun, including the firing pin. In theory all this info would be
imprinted on the case head upon firing (many of you know the size of a firing
pin, this would be like putting all this info on the head of a large needle) and
the “experts” there could read this and tell where the gun came from and by
backtracking could come up with the owners name. And guns that are already on
the “approved gun list” would not be exempt from this either. If the company
changes anything about the gun, even the grips or some small internal part, then
they are no longer on the approved list and must do the micro stamping dance. So
far Ruger and Smith & Wesson along with a couple of smaller companies have told
California to take a long walk off a short pier. Hopefully more will join them.
The bad part is this is exactly what California wants. They want no guns in
their state at all and the people this will hurt are not the idiot politicians
in California, but the average shooter.

There has been strong rumors in the wind over the past year that Obama will
enact a law that will ban foreign guns from coming into the states. Several gun
makers are working to head off this ill advised law. Glock is now building guns
here in the states. Some parts are still coming in marked “Made in Austria” but
the new Gen 3 Glock 17 and 22 are made here in the states. The new model 42 is
made here and more are to come. Several other foreign companies are following
suit, doing their best to set up manufacturing plants here in the states. One of
those is Steyr who opened up a huge plant in Alabama recently. They will be
producing the Steyr, Merkel, and Anschutz firearms in the new plant.

2014 is the year slated for most of the reloading manuals to be updated. Norma
Ammunition is doing so in a big way. Norma has been making ammunition for well
over 100 years and this is just their second edition reloading manual. For those
that have been around for a few years the name Norma is well known. Way back in
the mid to late 70s I used a lot of Norma Auto Mag brass and Norma 44 Auto Mag
ammo. It was and still is great ammunition and great brass. This new reloading
manual will be a welcome addition to my reloading bench.

I talked to one of the head honchos at Legacy Firearms recently. He said they
were getting a LOT of orders for the new M1 Carbine chambered in 9mm. and their
new Model 86 rifle which is an authentic reproduction of the Winchester 1886.
The gun is chambered in 45-70 with a 26” octagonal barrel. Their model 92 is
another extremely popular rifle. This one is the reproduction of the Winchester
1892 and comes in 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum and 45 Long Colt. The M-1 Carbine also
comes chambered in 22 LR.

I mentioned the new M-1 Carbine in 9mm to a friend recently and he looked at me
strangely and said “why in hell would they do that?” Well, to me it makes a lot
of sense. For home defense a 223 or 308 AR type rifle really doesn’t make any
sense. If you miss the bad guy, which would be normal in a low light late night
scenario, where is that bullet going? Out the door or window, and down the
street to someone else’s house. The 9mm would have no recoil, limited range if
the bad guy is missed and limited pass thru problems. Plus the gun is simple to
operate, unlike an AR might be to some older people. Any older man is probably
familiar with the operation of the M-1 Carbine and teaching a lady to operate
one is a 5 minute deal. There have been several other handgun cartridge rifles
in the past that I thought were excellent home defense weapons. Marlin’s Camp
Carbine in 9mm and 45 ACP were two good ones but were not as popular as they
should have been. Introduced in 1985 we were not as concerned with home defense
back then as today. If they brought them back today they would be a good seller
for sure. Ruger’s 44 Magnum semi auto carbine is another great home defense
weapon as is their newer 9mm and 40 caliber carbines. All great guns for home
defense but looked over in most cases in favor of the more powerful carbines.

Recently we introduced our new Kentucky Bowie. This one is a smaller more
compact Bowie than out others that we have had thru the years, The new Kentucky
Bowie has an 8” blade and features a more curved handle. It is a more compact,
easily carried Bowie. This one will be on a custom order basis as is normal,
with a 6 week delivery, and with a modest $300 price tag. As in our other
Bowies, each knife will be numbered and can be personalized at no extra charge
if the customer wants. It seems that a lot of gun makers have introduced knives
in their gun line up. Colt has a new knife, as does Browning, H&K, Smith &
Wesson, Beretta, Winchester and Kahr. I will have to say that I am not a knife
person and my designs are probably a long way from the normal knife design, but
I design then from a hunter’s standpoint. I don’t like fancy little gimmicks. I
just want a knife that will do what I want it to in a hunting camp.

Speaking of hunting camps, our most recent HHC (Handgun Hunter’s Challenge) is
now history. This was our 80th handgun hunt since January 1987. We had a full
house that weekend. Someone in Alan’s family booked some other hunters in there
the same weekend and it was a true full house. We also had more folks show up
than I had planned on. I try to get everyone to let me know if they are going
but we ended up with 7 or 8 more than I had planned on. That is no big deal as
it worked out fine. We had one or two of our people that didn’t get their animal
as they were a bit wilder and more illusive than they had thought they would be.
All in all it was a great weekend with a lot of new folks and even more of the
regular Misfits that make just about every HHC. Our next HHC will be on October.
I will book it in June and let you know the dates at that time.

Til next time, stay warm, stay well and take a lady or youngster shooting. They
are our future.
God bless,
Gary